Low Fuel Light Comes on Too Late

Well, you've seen the manual excerpt, and the snarky remarks of others.

What I do with a new vehicle, every so often (like once a year), is manually reset the trip odometer when I fill up (don't keep pushing more fuel in - stop when you are full instead of trying to top it off).
I drive the truck till my light comes on. Then I fill up a second time.

I determine by how many gallons pumped how much fuel remained in the tank, with the knowledge of the tank capacity.

I verify I can at least go 40+miles once the light comes on. Of course, depending on where you live 40miles may be problematic.

Also, I will have previously compared my actual average MPG by dividing gallons pumped by miles on the ODO. *you don't need to drive the vehicle to "empty" to do this*. I will do this a few times a year, just to see how conservative the MPG estimate of the vehicle is (and it should be conservative).

Honestly, I know the light coming on freaks my wife completely out. Now we don't want to do that, do we?

 

I've never seen mine either. I went through running out of gas when I was young and dumb. Now that I'm old and dumb I treat 1/4 tank as the fill-up point.

 

In town: 1/2-1/4 tank, whenever gas prices and schedule makes it convenient. Never lower than 1/4 on a good day, never lower than 1/2 during inclement weather or economic events.

Point-to-Point driving (road trips): No less than 1/4 tank, and the remaining range must reach the next two gas stations. Refuel when either of those conditions isn't met.

Out-and-back (like going into backcountry): The rule of 3's: 1/3 tank to play, 1/3 tank to get back, don't touch the last 1/3 unless it's an emergency.




Super simple stuff. I ain't going to be another Death-Valley dum-dum, if I can help it.

 

I rarely, if ever park my truck at home without filling up. My wife used to give me a hard time about it until the Colonial Pipeline shutdown last year. For about two weeks, it was very hard to find a station that had gas. When there was a station that had gas, there were lines like you wouldn’t believe. It was a panic situation for a lot of people that like to ride around with their gas light on. I grew up way out in the country where no store stayed open past 9pm. We always kept gas in the cars in case something happened during the night. I guess I’m just programmed to keep gas in my vehicles.

 

And then there are some of us who endured the effects of the Arab oil embargo. Could only buy gas on odd or even days and even at that there were lines down the road.

 

You should never allow your tank to get that low. The fuel pump needs a few gallons to keep it from overheating and failing.

 

No shit? 3.2 gallons. I never knew this. I mean, I knew there was gas left in the tank, but not that much, I thought maybe 1-2 gallons at the most. Now I can play fast-n-loose when the gas light comes on!

 

I've never experienced that bad, but I've gone through a few hurricanes. Ike was the worst - it took a week to get most stations operational and another week before the lines were no longer stretched beyond the station's property. Neither car was full, but neither was close to empty either when the power went out. So we went to one-car family mode: carpooled the wife's until it reached 1/4 tank, parked it and drove mine. By the time mine was low I could find a station with less than a 10 minute wait to refill.

It was a light lesson in urban survival, but well remembered when the hoarding panic briefly hit a couple years later.

 

Reminds me of a hurricane that made it's way to Connecticut in the early 80s and passed right over me. Power was out for several days. Apartment life: No power? No pumping gas. No stop lights. No cooking. No refrigeration. No heat. No lights... It was a wakeup call.

Now I don't let my vehicles get down to a point where the light comes on... I just do the test so I know my future options. These days, I'm more focused on the convenience of rest-stops w/restrooms.

 

I’ve seen my low fuel warning a few times.
My Tank averages suck cause I use a remote starter and take my breaks at work in it running.
It’s cold out and I’m a smoker.
But at fill up it’s usually about 15 gallons so I still have a 1/4 tank.
But the computer says danger you got 10 miles left to empty.
Ignoring the computer and looking at the actual gauge works for me.

 

The fuel going THROUGH the pump cools it, so it will only stop cooling when there is no gas left.

Yep, even when the light turns on, then it says "0 miles left" you still have a good 30miles of gas left. Toyota is not like GM... where when you're at zero you're at zero

 

Welcome to TW...

 

when you get to zero miles, it says fuel soon. by checking the amount pumped at refill, I can honestly go at least 30 miles, and still have a reserve to get to the closest station, after hitting zero, if I have to. I dont make it a habit but, I stop for convenience, not fear. I have never pumped more than 20 gallons into the tank, knowing the size and capacity, I know the trucks limitation.

they put a safety margin in their notifications, so you dont try to really push it, and get stranded. it is called liability. could you imagine if it was exact? throw in winter blended fuel, cold weather, windy driving, or a heavy load, and you ran out of fuel when it said you had 20-30 miles left. imagine those lawsuits.

those saying the pump will overheat... LOL! yep, that is where they would put a pump that could overheat... in flammable liquid. picking up sediment in the bottom? there are socks, and filters to prevent this. even if there were sediment in the bottom, once you fill, and drive, sloshing 22 gallons of fuel, it cleans the sock. that is how it is designed... not to fail.

where do people come up with this crap? Ski

 

Missed it was first post!
@HondaGM
Welcome to TW!

 

if that happens, i'd go the gas station at 3 AM to try and avoid the lines. people still have to sleep.

 

Alright,

I guess I’m ‘that guy’. In DFW, I’m never more than about 2 miles from a gas station at any time. Yeah, I pushed that one in red a little.

I really should start filling at 1/4 tank. It’s just 25% more stops.

 

I can usually accumulate enough Kroger fuel points to get $1.00 off/gallon.

Fill truck, zero odometer, drive to a little over 400 miles, save $20.00.

 

Yep. With “0” miles left I still have 3 gallons in the tank

 

When you get down to the last 2-3 gallons all of the remaining fuel can go to one end of the tank or the other when driving up, or down hills and none will get into the fuel pump. Resulting in a dead engine.

Run out of gas, pay tow truck driver $100.

I do like your plan, but not with a Tacoma. I love the 36 gallon tank on my F150. I rarely get much below 1/4 tank, but I can buy gas where I want, and at the price I want, instead of buying gas where I have to.

Lots of other bad things can happen. I once parked on I-85 in Atlanta for 4 hours in August at 100 degrees running the AC while a multi car, multi fatality wreck was cleared. By the time traffic started moving 2-3 cars had run out of gas and created further headaches. I don't think I've ever seen the low fuel light.

 

I’ve never been through anything like that, but I had to survive a run on toilet paper during covid. Luckily I’m conservative with it and I had some shop towels for backup.

OP, if you are driving where it might be more than 20 miles to the next gas station, keep your eye on the fuel gauge. Otherwise don’t sweat it.

Being old enough to have warning lights that came on with less than 5 miles left and haven grown up in the country, I learned to not rely on the low fuel light. Now I live in the city and I often see the 17 mile warning. It’s no big deal. I’ve still got 3+ gallons.